~ Chapter 128: Starting anew in Rezalis ~
[Shanteya’s point of view]
I departed from Illsyorea with my mind and heart at peace, but as I sailed farther and farther away from my home, I began to realize just how much I was going to miss my children, my husband, my sister-wives and everyone else. My heart laid heavy with the desire to see them again, but I knew this was my own selfishness.
It has been a very long time since I was last traveling on my own like this, and I felt a bit insecure. With an overprotective husband like Illsy, maybe I forgot just what it meant to constantly be aware of my surroundings and treat everyone I met as a potential enemy. Up until now, I had him standing there, knowing he would come to my help in a jiffy if I found myself in any sort of peril. When I felt the desire to speak with someone, my sister-wives were always there and even Illsy lent an ear to listen to my worries.
Now, while traveling alone, I realized that I was going to miss these little things. Even so, I could not afford to return to Illsyorea. My path had been set, and I was determined to see this mission through. No matter the danger or whomever tried to stand in my way, I was going to push forward until I found the Master of the Phantom Rage Guild and killed him with my bare hands.
I wasn’t going to let either man or god harm my precious family.
Days went by and the ship I was on continued its voyage towards the Rukta Port in Rezalis Kingdom. It was there where my hunt would begin, and I had already made several plans for tracking down the troublesome assassins. Unfortunately, many years had passed since I last stepped within a Phantom Rage hideout. I knew there were many of them spread across all three continents, but just as their leaders often changed so did their locations.
At the time I was still a member of Phantom Rage, my ranking within the organization was not even at the level of a small hideout leader. I was what many would call a disposable piece in the guild master’s plans.
I would guess that my fame within the guild exploded only when it was proven that I somehow managed to survive the infamous curse the Master put on me. When I was able to escape the grasp of the assassins sent after me, the two sisters at the Fellyore Academy, I certainly caused quite a stir within the higher up ranks. I did the impossible, I escaped the Guild’s clutches, and when I returned, I was someone they could not touch. Thus, they probably made sure to destroy the hideouts I knew when I was still a member of their organization.
While on the boat, I made sure not to touch any of the food the captain offered me. Sweet Tamara cooked plenty for me, and I did not plan on letting her efforts go to waste. There was also another reason why I didn’t want to eat it, they only offered me dried fruit and meat typical for sailor who traveled for a long period of time.
Of course, I did not plan on wasting my time on this ship for months to come, so whenever the wind tried to go against us or there was a lack of it, I cast a spell to push us forward. Such display of magic surprised the captain as it wasn’t something any ordinary Mage could do. It was understandable as each of those spells would cost me almost 1000 Magic Energy points as Illsy calculated it.
Ever since my husband explained to me the way he saw the world quantified in those numbers, I had gotten a far better understanding of my own power. Our students also benefited from this knowledge, and they progressed exceptionally well.
Until they graduated, we planned on keeping their actual strength a secret as it would offer them an incentive to keep practicing. Truthfully speaking, a lot of them were well beyond Emperor Rank and steadily walking on the Godlike path. The average student had around 1500 Magic Energy points, while some were well past 2000. When they first arrived at the academy, they barely had 150 points, some even less than that, while others had been told they would never be able to cast a single spell.
In order to help some of them out, we spread the rumor that both the teachers and Illsyore were secretly helping them out during their casting. It was a bit funny though when I spotted one of my students praying in a corner for Illsyore’s blessing so he may pass the exams.
On Illsyorea, I was well known by the people there, the entire Deus family was. We were technically the rulers of that island, so this much didn’t surprise us. As a result, the sailors on this ship tried their best to treat me as a particularly important political representative of an independent foreign nation. When I walked up on the deck, they would bow before me, and when I cast a spell out of boredom, they would be in complete awe of it. Just for giggles, I once launched a powerful attack spell that consumed over 5000 Magic Energy points. It caused a large explosion and powerful shock wave that rocked the ship. This helped us sail a bit faster, and the small tsunami I created needed to be dealt with before it reached the mainland, so I destroyed it with a couple of detonating wind scythes. The look on the sailors’ faces was one that belonged to people who just heard their commonsense shattering to bits.
As we got close to the Rezalis Kingdom’s territorial waters, the captain walked up to me and asked what I intended to do in his motherland. The look in his eyes was that of a serious man confronting a possible danger to his entire family.
Considering what he had witnessed and must have heard about me, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he thought that I came with thoughts of war.
“Relax, Captain Fandar. If it was a political visit, I would have told you as such for I would have needed an escort to the King’s Palace. I would have sent a message before my arrival so he may prepare what is needed to properly welcome me. So no, my journey to Rezalis this time is one of... sightseeing.” I told him as I maintained an elegant posture befitting a noble lady.
“Sightseeing? Such a reason... Do you expect me to believe it?” he asked.
“That’s my official declaration, Captain. You can note it down and even send it to your King. I do not mind. However, if by chance I were to encounter any sort of danger towards my person or Illsyorea, I will swiftly... remove it.” I showed him a smile.
“What should I think of when you say... danger?” he asked with a gulp.
“I don’t know. Bandits who tried to steal from me, adventurers who are too zealous of their manhood, nobles who think they can do what they wish with me, Kings who send assassins after me... I don’t know, danger.” I replied.
The captain looked into my eyes and remained silent for a long moment.
With a nod, he excused himself and left my room. He did not deny the possibility that I would encounter such things while in Rezalis, but I think that when I said that I wouldn’t mind taking out Kings or overzealous nobles, he understood that such a possibility might arise. No doubt he went back to his room to send a message and warn his Majesty not to try anything foolish.
Thus, two days later, we finally dropped anchor in port Rukta. I had enough of this salty air, but besides that, I had nothing to complain about. With a smile, I said my farewells to the good captain and then went down to the pier.
There was no need to hide my silver hair or pale skin. My features as an albino el’doraw were not those I felt the need to be ashamed about. Actually, I was interested to see if any of the possible Phantom Rage informers could figure out it was the Broken Doll they were looking at. This might urge them to make certain moves and as such, possible mistakes.
This was one method I could use to smoke them out of their dens. As a former member of this Guild, I knew all too well how I could spot the less skilled assassins. Once I caught one of them, I could find out the location of his superior and then continue like that until I reached their hideout. Once I got there, it was all about going further up on the ladder until I got the location of the Master’s hiding hole.
For a normal Supreme, this journey would have taken at least a year or two, but I planned on taking not more than two months. After all, I already had a good idea of how they operated, while others would struggle to guess the subtle signs left by the workers in the night.
As I made my way down the pier, a big brawny man stepped forward. He looked at me with an irritating smile and wiped his mouth with his dirty sleeve. This poor chap was as drunk as an alcoholic who sneaked inside a tavern’s wine cellar. He smelled of cheap rum, but what was most unfortunate was the fact that he reminded me of the time I still walked around as a simple agent of the Phantom Rage. More than once I had to sell my body to this sort of fellows in order to get a piece of information for my boss.
“You pwetty lady... What be doin’ HIC~! Here?” he asked.
I didn’t reply, I was too disgusted by his stench.
“Ah, no! Bobba Joe! Stop!” a sailor suddenly shouted as he ran up to us.
I looked around and recognized him as one of the deck scrubbers from the ship I traveled on.
“Huh? Mentis... that ya’?” the drunk asked.
“Yes!” he replied and then immediately came up to him and pushed him back a bit. He turned around and then bowed to me “I apologize for my friend’s rude behavior!”
“Huh? Mentis... what ya’ be doin’?” he asked confused.
“Bobba Joe, don’t be a fool or this will be the end of you! This woman is a very important and powerful individual you most definitely don’t want to anger! So apologize right away, Bobba Joe!” Mentis told him in a stern tone of voice.
This man was trembling a bit as well. He saw what I can do and knew that if so I desired, I could erase this whole port off the face of the map.
“That so? Then me sorry... Me a bit... Hic! Drunk. So me apologize.” Bobba Joe said and then bowed, but in doing so, he fell over his friend.
“Agh! What are you doing, you fool?!” Mentis shouted from under him.
“I think he fell asleep.” I said as I looked at the big man. “No worries, you came at the right time to save your friend.” I showed him a smile and then walked past the two.
“T-Thank you!” Mentis said while struggling to get his friend off of him.
The other sailors who saw the scene got out of my way and tried to avoid my gaze. It became apparent to them that I was not someone they could mess around with. Then again, these crude sailors would one day end up with their heads separated from their shoulders if they dared to approach a noble woman with a bad attitude. After all, unlike Illsyorea, any disrespectful act towards those of noble blood was considered to be a grave crime. In general, a peasant was nothing more than a slave with unreasonably more liberties in the eyes of the noble who ruled over his land.
While on this foreign land, I did not plan on using my authority as a representative of Illsyorea, but ever were to be a need for it, according to the definitions, I had the same rank as a Queen.
After I left the docks, I made my way through this port town while observing the local population from a distance. My usual clothing made me appear as a distinguished noble woman, so there weren’t that many brave souls who would dare approach me. Noble men tried from time to time to invite me for a drink or in the case of a foolish one order me to follow him. That lucky fellow learned today what it meant to fly and then dive into the ocean from a high altitude.
During this time, I paid attention to their dialects. While Illsy had no problem with communicating in multiple languages to the point that all of them sounded the same to him, the rest of us had to learn and adjust to them.
Captain Fandar was kind enough to help me learn Rezalis dialect while onboard of his ship. Listening to the sailors talk, I managed to pick up some of the slang as well, but overall, it was similar to the Shoraya dialect. The languages on Sorone were diverse but very similar one to another, especially those that originated from the pure Kalish and Kendarian languages, making it easy for someone to learn them if they tried. For someone with my experience as an assassin and also the abilities of an Over Supreme, learning a new language or adapting to new dialects was an easy task.
This reminds me, I should ask Illsyore to make something like a Translator Crystal. It will help with both trade and accepting new students from across the ocean. Right now, any new student who doesn’t know the Paramanium language is forced to learn it to be able to attend the more advanced classes. I thought and then let out a sigh.
Without realizing, I reached the Adventurers Guild.
“So, there’s one here too. I wonder what my rank is right now?” I said and then entered the building.
The moment I stepped through the door, several adventurers looked at me with curious eyes, a few with lustful gazes, and one of them was afraid? That one must have stepped on Illsyorea.
I ignored the bunch and walked up to the receptionist, a middle-aged man who was smoking a thick cigar.
“Ya’? How may I help ya’?” he asked in an annoyed tone of voice.
The adventurer who was afraid of me whispered something to his friend who was casting a lustful gaze at me and then he immediately froze in fear as well.
“I wish to verify the status on my Guild Card.” I said and then calmly pulled it out of my Storage Crystal.
The receptionist was a bit surprised when I did that.
“Let me see.” he said and then walked to the back with it.
While I waited, I looked around at the adventurers. The majority of them were men, but I saw a couple brawny women and some teenagers as well. Some of them were looking with curious eyes at me. I was an albino el’doraw and a beauty to boot, so it was natural for me to catch their attention.
“Missy, you haven’t been active in a while.” the receptionist said as he returned.
“Yes, I know.” I nodded.
“You’re back to being a simple Beginner Rank, but I take it your strength is higher than that, right? It says here your Adventurer Rank is Master?” he asked as he returned the card to me.
Indeed, the Guild Rank written on it was ‘Beginner’, but I do not think I ever bothered to raise it before. Even on Illsy’s card it was written that he had a Beginner Guild Rank and Godlike Adventurer Rank. Actually, none of us bothered with updating the status on our Guild Cards. If not for the current situation, we planned on updating our cards once an Adventurers Guild was established on Illsyorea.
“Ah, that may be a bit outdated. My current Adventurer Rank should be Supreme or at least Godlike.” I showed him a small smile.
“Heh? Maybe I heard wrong but did you just you are a Supreme?” he asked.
“Yes, my Adventurer Rank should be Supreme according to the Guild’s standards, but I didn’t update it in almost 9 years now.” I said this in a casual tone of voice as I tucked away my Guild Card. “Now then, where’s the Quest Board? I will take a couple of Beginner and Intermediary Quests. There shouldn’t be a problem if I complete more than one in a day, right?” I asked.
“Huh? Erm... What? Yes. You can complete more than one quest... But... are you sure? If you fail one.” he started to say.
The man looked at me a bit confused. Maybe he was trying to determine if I wasn’t perchance some insane woman with a death wish? After all, tackling more than a quest at a time, especially as a solo Adventurer, was considered to be a foolish thing to do unless one’s rank was quite high, or the quests could be completed within the same hunting ground.
“Yes, I know. Don’t worry, I can handle it.” I giggled.
“Is that so? Erm, the board is to the left. It’s over there.” He said and then pointed at the wall on the far end of this room.
“Thank you. I will be right back.” I showed him a smile.
There were many quests on the board ranging from simple delivery ones to subjugation of powerful monsters. I ignored those for now and focused on what I could do until it turned dark outside.
My main priority was finding the location of the headquarters of the Phantom Rage, the place where the big bad boss of this organization was hiding. Unfortunately, I couldn’t just go around asking from door to door about this. The reason was one I knew from back when I was still a member of their organization.
The headquarters was located on an island rumored to not appear on any map. The only ones who knew how to find it were the leaders of the big hideouts on the mainland. Trying to find one of these hideouts was a monumental task that would have required for me to literally search every nook and cranny on this side of the continent. No matter how fast I was, such a task was simply ridiculous. That was why what I needed to do was to discover one or several of the smaller hideout. Once I got my hands on their leader, all I had to do was make him reveal the location of his superior.
Going up on the ladder like this was tedious task to accomplish as it took a rather long time as well as careful planning. After all, I did not want for my prey to catch a whiff of me and then flee from my grasp. Because only the leaders of the small hideouts knew the location of a big hideout and then only the leaders of the big hideouts knew the location of the island, even when low ranking members or promising assassins were caught, it was impossible for them to damage the organization too much. At most, only a hideout or two would end up compromised while the head of the snake would remain intact.
This was the reason why Phantom Rage was so successful and widespread. This was also the reason why no Supreme was sent after me. Those fellows often guarded the main island or acted as leaders in the big hideouts.
Still, in order for me to start on my search, I had to work from several angles. One of them was becoming a prominent member of the Adventurers Guild and then taking up a quest that required for me to work with someone who was already in pursuit of an acting member of the Phantom Rage or one designed to be attacked by them. The other was to bring about attention to myself through my success and then stage an ‘assassination’ through which an ‘annoyed adventurer’ wanted to kill me.
There were a few other ways through which I could encounter a member of the Phantom Rage, but those were more or less based on luck. Even so, I had to try.
Thus, my plan involved raising my Guild Rank, raising my fame as an Adventurer, and lastly be on the lookout in each town and city I visited for any suspicious activity.
From the Quest Board, I picked up three delivery quests I could finish in the following hour if I was quick enough.
After I received the confirmation documents from the receptionist, I went to a nearby Inn and rented a room. It didn’t matter to me if it was suited for Nobles or Commoners, I had no intention of sleeping there tonight. I was using the room just to change from my pretty dress to my combat armor. It was the upgraded version of the one Illsy gave me after we left Fellyore. I also had the one he called a ‘Combat Maid Power Armor’ which was ridiculous by all standards, but also quite flashy.
One of the three quests I picked up required me to go to the docks and deliver a package from the captain of a docked Navy battleship to the house of a noble family. It expired at the end of this day and the reward was of a mere 15 copperettes.
I walked up to the ship in question and after I explained the situation to the guards, I was soon handed the package and then sent on my way. The house was on the other side of the town, according to the soldier’s instructions. Reaching it while walking at a normal speed would have taken me at least an hour, so I took a turn at the first empty alley and then jumped up on the rooftops. From there to the noble’s house, I skipped over rooftops, running at a high speed without bothering who caught sight of me. If I ran on the streets, I would have needed to zig-zag all the way there, and that would have been annoying.
Once there, I dropped the package, received the Quest Completion confirmation and then went to the next quest giver. It took me more to receive the packages and receive the confirmation than to deliver them. Once I was done, I returned to the Guild. The receptionist was quite surprised when I handed him the confirmation documents.
I picked up two subjugation quests next. One was for Goblins and the other was for some Merions within the basement of a noble. I intended to finish them by the end of the day, but just as I was approaching the South gates, I saw a child at the corner of the street.
“A coin please... I’m hungry... Please... A coin...” he kept saying while looking up at the people who passed by without so much as turning their gaze at him.
There were many poor souls like him, but what caught my attention was the fact that he was begging in the Kalish language, not the Rezalis dialect, which was basically a weird Shorayan language. Usually, you would find Kalish more towards the center of the continent, while Kendarian would be found towards the Northeast part of the continent.
I approached the child and asked him in Kalish “Why don’t you begin Rezalis?”
“Um... Mother didn’t have time to teach me Rezalis. I know only Kalish.” he replied in a timid tone of voice.
He was dirty and wore ragged clothes, which made me wonder if he was abandoned.
“Where is your mother, child?”
“I don’t know... Bad men came and took her away. Father tried to stop them, but there was blood and...” he stopped and started crying.
“Dear child...” I said as I knelt and embraced him.
He began to cry while clinging to my clothes. He was trembling, and I could tell that it had been a long time since he last ate anything. Looking towards the gate, I decided that my quest could wait for now. I could not just abandon this child. When looking at him, I was reminded of sweet Bachus and Anette.
“Come with me, I’ll take you somewhere safe.” I told him.
“Safe? Where?” he asked through his tears.
“A beautiful place where you will have the chance to grow as a normal child and then become a splendid adult.” I told him as I got up and carried him back to the inn where I rented a room for the night.
Those who walked by us gave me strange looks because he was dirty, and my clothes were clean. I was not bothered by their gazes.
“There is wonderful place called Illsyorea. It is an island way off into the middle of the ocean. Once I give you something to eat and some better clothes, I’ll take you to one of the ships heading there.”
“What about mother?” he asked with a worried look on his face.
“I will look for her. Once we are inside, give me her name, describe to me how she looked like last time you saw her and also how those bad men looked like. I will look for her and find out what became of her. If I find her, I will send her to you on Illsyorea.”
“And if you don’t?” he asked.
I showed him a gentle smile “Then your father and mother will watch over you from the sky and see that you have been blessed with the fortune of reaching a land of hope.”
Just as I promised him, I gave him a good meal, a warm bath, and new clothes. Then I walked with him to the docks and handed him over to Captain Fandar. I paid him for the journey to Illsyorea.
Afterwards, I went to complete those two quests. This was how I spent my first day in the Rezalis Kingdom. From here on out, my hunt begun, but I feared that as I went deeper within the continent, I wouldn’t be able to extend the same helping hand as I did today with this child. There would be a time when I would have to steel my heart and ignore the whimpers of the little ones, no matter how much it pained me…